Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Reading Recap - August 2022

August was a good reading month for me!  I read slightly more books (1...) than many other recent months and, generally, really enjoyed what I was reading!  I was slowed down a bit at the end, my two weeks of COVID and nausea didn't lend themselves to much reading although I think I still finished 4 books!  I keep waiting for my reading to really pick up speed...maybe once my running slows down (in number of miles...my pace has significantly decreased with being sick!).  

I'm very active on Goodreads here, somewhat active on Instagram here, and linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy on the 15th!

Only one other book post in the past month:

And now what I've been reading!

Upgrade by Blake Crouch
Man, it feels like a really long time ago that I read this.  I liked this better than Recursion, less than Dark Matter.  But he still writes pretty accessible sci-fi that seems to appeal to a wide range of readers.  Family secrets (I literally gasped at the end of one chapter), a dystopian future, and biologic technology.  His books are always hard to explain but are usually pretty gripping.  3.5 Stars

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
This is the book I buddy-read with 3 of my sisters last month, even though I'm not sure any of us were actually reading it at the same time.  It was my 4th or 5th time through it and even though some people make some really bad decisions (this seems to be the only book I tolerate cheating in), it is still such a fun read.  New York City, 30 year old friends, long relationships, the aforementioned cheating...it's just a delight.  4 Stars

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
I really enjoyed this book about two friends who spend their summers together next door at a lake somewhere...north and somewhat chilly.  It eventually turns romantic and I am a sucker for the childhood best friends trope.  I was sucked in a and flew through this in a weekend (which is about as fast as I can read anything 300+ pages, given kids and all).  Loved it.  4.5 Stars

Haven Point by Virginia Hume
This book was set in Maine which is why I read it.  It was historical fiction about a small island and the different relationships there.  I really, don't remember all the details at this point other than it was fairly slow and less happened than I expected.  3.25 Stars

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
This was a fun and chaste romance about a female bodyguard who gets assigned to guard a big movie star.  Said movie star is back home in Texas while his mother undergoes some medical treatments and thus the bodyguard pretends (at his insistence) to be his girlfriend so his family won't know about the threats against him.  It was fun and romantic, I enjoyed it.  3.75 Stars

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan
This was delightful historical fiction about a group of women who come together in rural England during WWII, originally as a sewing circle to mend and trade clothes given the rationing at the time.  Their purpose shifts a bit as they fix and tailor wedding dresses so as many area brides as possible will get to be married in a white dress.  It was charming, female-empowered, and so much lovely friendship between the ladies.  And based on a true story!  4 Stars

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub
This was a time travel novel, a woman traveling back from her 40th birthday to her 16th, and reliving the day many times, seeing if any changes she made could change some hard things in her life at 40.  It felt very 13 Going on 30 but also that movie was mentioned in the book.  It was fun and a page turner that didn't dwell too much on the mechanics of possible time travel. 3.75 Stars

101 Reasons Why We Love the Queen by E. Dunne & H. Sutcliffee
This was a  quick read that ended up being my 100th book of the year.  It was charming and the illustrations are very cute.  I had purchase requested it from my library (and then they lost it for a few months when I put it on hold).  Would be especially poignant to read now, in light of her death.  Also, it would take approximately 11 minutes. 4 Stars

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
I just couldn't get into this book.  It was a woman falling in love with a ghost?  Or what she thinks is a ghost.  I thought it would be a quick and breezy romance read but it was not.  Also, I was reading it when I first got sick and my focus wasn't there, that probably didn't help my enjoyment of the book. 2.75 Stars

Desserts Can Save the World: Stories, Secrets, and Recipes for a Stubbornly Joyful Existence by Christina Tosi
A joyful celebration of how easy it can be to make someone's day, maybe by sharing sugar or doing something small to help them out, or inviting a friend to do something.  The author is the woman behind the Milk Bar, a bakery we have visited and enjoyed in NYC and in Vegas!  It was just fun and empowering and a delight. 4 Stars

The Midcoast by Adam White
This book was weird.  It took place in Maine which is how it ended up on my radar but maybe I need to stop letting that guide my reading choices.  It was very slow and about a possible scheme of some sort but also told in such a round about way that it was hard to enjoy.  Would not recommend unless you really like literary fiction and slow novels. 2.5 Stars

Read with Luke
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
This is the book we gave Luke for his birthday...in March.  We started in July maybe and then it still took us awhile to get through it.  Luke loves the middle-grade survival books and this was another of those.  I got a big choked up at the end and I think he'll be able to reread it to himself before too long.  We'll continue the series!

What have YOU been reading lately?

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